A dubious distinction

For the last two days I've been the first one into the office (6:15-6:30 a.m.) and the last one out roughly 11 hours later. Dark in, dark out. It doesn't get much better than this I tell ya. Of course I'm doing this so that I can take most of Friday off to work on the house so things will work out.

In actual bike news, Marcy and I have decided to participate in the Snowman Adventure. It's a two man (woman) team race where one person does a bike leg and the other does running leg and then the teammates sled to the finish. Sounds like a pretty fun time. Most people would expect me to do the bike leg since that is what I'm actually good at (theoretically at least) but since Marcy runs like the tin man three weeks overdue for an oil change I volunteered to eat the bullet. Suddenly all these early morning runs with Chance have some actual meaning.

not me in photo

Speaking of those stupid runs, yesterdays snow followed by rain left the roads in primo shape for some ass to pavement encounters. Today didn't disappoint. One second I'm running happily along, the next thing I know I'm thrown to the ground with such force that I nearly broke my wrist. There should be a law against running.

Quiz time.

Up for grabs is one gently used Thompson seatpost (don't ask me the size right now because I don't have it on me though I do usually keep a seat post in my front pocket for vanity reasons) to the first person to guess what the frig was on my coffee cup the other morning when I got to the property to work. Hint: it didn't come from me.

Disclaimer: No employees, family members or affiliates of Racin Rick or Dam Nelsons are elidgable for this contest. Winner is responsible for all shipping and taxes ($100 in the continental U.S.).

How a week slips away

Today, on my morning commute, it occured to me that I hadn't been on my bike in exactly a week, the last time I was able to commute. I was kind of distressed by the fact that it had gone so quickly and easily. Granted, it has been months since I've been able to ride regularly so this is a typical thing for me these days but it was still distressing. This time last year I'd be freaking if I hadn't done something bikewise in two days time. My, how things change! Thankfully, I was able to squeeze in a spin class on Monday, a bunch of 20-30 minute jogs with the pooch and some pilates/cyclo-core work so I'm not feeling like a total slouch. Come to think of it, given my lack of riding, I felt pretty darn good this morning including while climbing a couple of 20% grades that had me turning 30 rpms (I nearly had to wrap bungee cords around my knee caps to keep them in place) so maybe things will be ok come spring.

Of course my reasons for riding little are pretty good (unlike most of big mac America). 1. I'm really busy at work and that's a pretty darn good thing considering the economy is circling the toilet bowl. 2. we're really cranking on the house. We've got all of the roof rafters on now and if things go well will have most of the house enclosed in a couple weeks time. This is also a pretty darn good thing considering all we've paid for so far are materials (and through my connections, some of that has been free as well!) and the foundation. Sure, I've also paid a bit with my sanity and lack of free time but when all is said and done we're going to have a frickin sweet house that we'll owe no more on than the itty bitty ranch we were living in before.

I think it's time to stop bitching and realize that life is pretty darn good for me right now. I've got a good marriage, a great kid, a good job, a sweet house being built, a sweet bike being planned and the prospect of the summer ahead ready to be enjoyed.

Ok, all of a sudden my day is looking up!

Don't worry, I'm still alive

Very little posting recently here. Sorry. Life gets in the way sometimes (a lot recently) and you do what you can. Not much to report ride-wise here but I did go to my first spin class of the season yesterday. It's not quite the same as riding outside but it's a damn sight better than riding the trainer at home and with the right instructor, they can be real ball busters. I didn't wear my heart rate monitor but my perceived exertion level was pegged at 11 and by the end of the class I was a sweaty mess. Good stuff since it's looking like between Marcy and my schedules I won't be getting much riding in this week.

On a racing note, I pulled the trigger and ordered up a Salsa Selma for this coming race season. I guess there won't be any more hemming and hawing about whether I'm racing single speed or not now. With a new bike purchased, Marcy will MAKE me race it whether I want to or not! :)

Snowy Ride

To me, there is nothing like a ride in freshly fallen snow. Preferrably a nice dry powder. On Sunday, we got just such a snowfall on Saturday night/Sunday morning. We tried to do some work on the house on Sunday but when that proved somewhat fruitless I opted to take advantage of my newfound free time. Usually I'd be heading for the local snowmobile trails for a day like this but, unfortunately, where we're living now there aren't any nearby so I hit the back roads instead. Not quite the same but fun none-the-less.

If you listen closely at :14 in this one you'll here me do a "whoaaaaaaaaa" as I almost at shit. I swear, taking video while riding will be the death of me.

One thing that I'm definitely realizing about where we're currently living is that even though there aren't any huge hills in the area, there are scads of short but STEEP hills. Enough that right now, a 1:20 minute ride just about has me stroking out and begging for it to stop. If it wasn't for my pride (vanity) my single speeding ass would be walking some of those suckers. There is something about grinding up a hill at 20 rpm's that really makes you rethink your choice in hobbies. I'm thinking that my new hobby should be re-building knees because with climbs like this I'll be needing a couple stat.

Wrong in so many ways

Have you ever taken pictures of yourself to use on your blog only to have serious resignations about posting them? If you've been coming to this silly blog for a while you know that there are very few things that I won't post about (much to Marcy's dismay). But once in a while I have a pic that I want to post but can't bring myself to do so because of it's cringe-worthiness. Well, the other day Marcy took a couple of pics of me with my silly truckdriver beard that I was sure I would want to post, until I saw them. After a few days delay and much hemming and hawing I've decided to post one. First, to warm things up, I'll show you two pics I took while shaving my horrendous goatee.

First up, the truck driver you saw in the previous two pics but a little clearer this time.

Next up was this super cool porn stache.

And then finally, the pic that still sends shivers up my spine: (you have to click on the pic to get the full douche chills)

Considering my history, I'm not sure why this pic bothers me so much. Maybe it's the look on my face or the hairy, wooky like, legs or the fact that I haven't had a haircut in three months but whatever it is, it makes me want to curl up and die. Thankfully, I'm devoted to this blog and in desperate need of content so I'm manning up and hitting post. Please enjoy in moderation.

Need to fix some shit?

Is your shifting all jacked up?
Do you need to adjust your BB cups?
Creaks driving you crazy?
Come on, don't be so damn lazy!
Fix your bike fool.
Bikeman.com has the tools.
Quick, become a facebook fan
and save 15% man (I know, that was a stretch)
Do it quick, you don't have much time.
Sale ends January 9.

You heard right, become a bikeman.com facebook fan and save 15% on tools.

Running is dangerous

Recently, I feel like my life is getting back on track a bit. As mentioned before, we've moved into a new place and we're much more comfortable there so that helps but the bigger thing (for me at least) is that the move has meant that I'm getting much more exercise than I was for a while. I'm still not putting in multi-hour bike rides but with a combo of jogging with the pooch (have to do that twice a day now) and some commuting, I'm finally feeling human again. I'm definitely not training yet but it is nice to get consistant exercise again. Hopefully, once the legs start to like riding again (they feel very lead like right now) I'll be able to kick it up a notch and start adding some intensity. It'll be some time before I add any volume but at least I'll have some conditioning under the belt when things open up this summer.

The funny thing is, now that I'm running more I'm realizing how dangerous it can be. In a twenty four hour span I fell twice while running. Twice. I honestly can't remember the last time I fell riding (of course I barely remember riding so that might not be a fair comparison) but here I am falling while running on pavement. Nice, very nice.

Contributing to my new sanity is that I've somehow managed to string together rides three days in a row. The longest one was only 1:05 but I'll take what I can get since I don't think I've ridden three days in a row for 5, maybe 6, months. Yikes.

One of those rides was a commute from work yesterday. I had packed all my things in the morning before heading to work and THOUGHT I'd be all set for the ride home. Fast forward to the end of the day, I head over to change and quickly realize I had forgotten one critical item.

Good Advice

Got this little gem in the office the other day. It could simply be helpful reminders about how to properly move materials around the construction site OR it could be some mighty fine dating advice. Be sure to click on the image to get the close up. My comments are in red.

Get in line ladies

Notice any super manly changes?